About a week ago some of my pictures were featured in an art/photography assignment from a friend of mine all the way from Singapore. She had asked to feature some of my works in this assignment of her and me being the gracious(ehem!) person that I am (haha) gladly obliged. Here’s the resulting work:

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Four of my pictures were featured. Here they are in the original versions and you can click them it’s accompanying post:

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Personally, my most favorite photo (apart from mine haha!) would be the top most center one, a good and sharp macro shoot for the railings and ending with a blurred out background. That picture shows a great form of perspective photography with nice contrast and lighting. Not bad at all considering it was taken with a P & S camera, just like all the other pics. And my other favorite would be the candy love sign pic at the top right corner. Can’t believe those candies actually fell on the ground and formed a heart shape accidentally!

And coincidentally, the main focus of this work would be the bigger ‘Candy’ pic on the right…. hmmm I smell Da Vinci Code conspiracy here hehehe. I mean the just above the Candy pic is a pic of the heart shape candies. Now you tell me, is this a sign or what? Hahahaha!

Personally, I am quite flattered and proud (a bit) that my photos were featured in a dear friend’s assignment. Yes I know they aren’t going to an art gallery(yet!) but somehow having my pics helping a dear friend of mine meant a lot to me. Oh ya, another perk is I get free promotion for my site hehe!
AND WHO SAID MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE CAN’T WORK TOGETHER? Maybe our government don’t see eye to eye but our people sure have lots of love for each other don’t they? Hehehehe…

To that friend of mine, I hope you get fantabolous grades for this assignment of yours because I think you have talent. But do take care not to cut yourself anymore in the future ok?

p/s: I’m always glad to help anyone who needs my pics, as long as they are not for commercial purposes (as stated by my copyright here) and credit is given when due. Just ask me and I’m sure I’ll be glad to let you feature them in your assignments, blogs or books.

A rather short continuation of my HFMD saga which I wrote about here. This would be the last part, I promise. Heh!

So about a week into my quarantine, I went out. Not to spread the virus around mind you but rather to consult the doctor again to inquire about my current condition and whether it’s still necessary for me to be put under confinement.

You see there’s 2 doctors on duty at the uni clinic. The one who examined me and subsequently put me under quarantine in the first place happens to be the younger of the two and understandably seemed a bit panicky during the initial stage of the HFMD outbreak. Can’t blame her though, could be her first time handling this kinda crisis.

This second doctor whom I saw on that day on the other hand is older and I think much more experienced. So, she’s kinda at ease with this whole HFMD thing. But the thing I wanna highlight here is the conversation she had with me:

Me: Doctor, do I still need to be quarantined? My MC* ended yesterday(Tuesday) and it’s Wednesday now. I have missed one to many classes and I still have tons of work to do.

Doctor: Hmmm let me see ya…(proceeds to take out some kinda chart). From your blood test, it shows that you’re just tested mildly positive for the HFMD virus. And it seems that you’ve recovered pretty well. So I guess yeah, you don’t need to be quarantined anymore.

So yeah, I’ve finally gotten my lazy ass off to write this piece, an account of my Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease experience. A warning first: One hot plate of long ass entry with loads of gruesome and/or disgusting infected hands and feet pictures coming right up.

Day 1 (10th March)

This would be the first day that the dreaded HFMD symptoms reared its ugly head. I woke up that day feeling rather fine but by lunch time I could already feel the unmistakable sensation of queasiness one usually would associate with fever. I had thoughts of just skipping class and head back to my room where I can lay on my oh-so-huge single bed (I’m trying to be sarcastic here you see). But then I thought – Ah shizzers! There’s that all-important my-graduation-ass-depends-on-it test at 2pm! Damn.

So, being the tough and macho guy that I am (hah!) I soldiered on to the lecture room and took the bloody exam in a health condition that would be equivalent to driving after downing a liter of Johnny Walker Black Label without the turning the lights on. Yeah, that would best described how torturous I felt during that 1 and a half hour test. The weird thing was I was so sick to a point I felt like the lecture room was as cold as the Arctic, literally freezing my balls off while everyone else were panting and sweating their armpits, cursing the inefficient air-conditioning.

After I was done with the test, I had to quite literally (again, hey I like this word) summon all my super human strength just to crawl back to hostel. But of course, I had to put up a strong and brave front for fear of disappointing all my female fans (ahahahaha). KNN, I felt even sicker upon reaching my room. No choice but to head to the university’s clinic, and I wrote about my exciting journey to get there here.

Day 2

Nothing special happened. Just the usual sick, weak, wanna-puke, head spinning, and body quivering kind of day I had. Still went to TWO classes despite my zombie-like condition. Talk about dedication man…

Day 3

Was feeling way better today. The fever has obviously subsided. But towards the end of the day, I had a lot of these weird-ass spots appearing on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. Like wtf man? My first thought was I was given some medicines that I’m allergic to. But then again I have never been allergic to anything. Ok, the only thing I’m allergic to is bullshit. Other than that, nothing else.

Day 4

Went back to the clinic today to get my hands and feet checked and to determine if I’m allergic to the meds or not. I noticed there were a lot more people then usual at the clinic today, and lot’s of them patients seem to have their blood taken. Plus the doctor was wearing a mask walking around. Hmmm, I have a sinking feeling inside me that says something bad is gonna happen. I can smell the stench of bad aura lingering around the clinic.

Then it was my turn to see the doctor. Before I even had the chance to open my mouth, the doctor had already given me my death sentence when she told me I had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease upon seeing the spots on my hands and feet. No doubt the news left me in Shock and Awe (ala Bush’s Iraq campaign) and my already bad day was made even worse when I was told I need to be quarantined to curb the infection.

Digressing a bit, WHO THE HELL BROUGHT THIS DISEASE INTO THE UNI AND SPREAD IT AROUND HUH? Dammit if I know who did this, I would have ripped his balls off for putting me into such agonizing condition.

Ehem, back to the subject. So I went back to hostel but since it was already late and the admin office was closed, I had no choice but to wait till tomorrow to get myself quarantined.

Day 5 till 10 (quarantine period)

So I went to the hostel admin office and after much bla bla bla, was handed the keys to a room situated at the international hostel which is the furthest hostel away from the main Alamanda cluster. However herein lays 3 critical mistakes made by the dumbass admin:

1)A fellow (lecturer and family who stay at the vicinity of the hostel) lives just downstairs from the room I was given. And they have kids! If you don’t know this, HFMD is highly contagious and dangerous to kids due to the nature of their immune system. Don’t ask how I get infected in the 1st place though cause I don’t know.

2)There are foreign students living just next to the apartment I was quarantined in. Like hello? You’re risking their health too by placing me so near to them ok?

3)There is no provision to prepare or arrange for food to be bought in for those who are quarantined. Basically you’re on your own. The admin people even had the cheek to tell me “Ala it’s ok for you to go to the cafeteria and buy food la” Then why the hell quarantine us in the first place? So that we can stay in a secluded part of the uni but at the same time we’re free to go and spread the virus around? Crazy ass people…

Luckily I had my buddies to help me get food for me. Otherwise at the end of my quarantine period, I would probably come out looking like a famine stricken bare to the bones from some famished part of Africa.

Alright, enough of talking. It’s pictures time:

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This is how HFMD looks like on the soles of my feet during the beginning stage. Notice the red spots? Photo taken on day 4.

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A close up. By the end of the infection period, all the skin areas infected with the red spots would start to blister and die off. Health new skin would then grow(hopefully).

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My hands. (Day 4)

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Again my foot. (Day 5)

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Now you know why they call this disease the Hand, Foot and Mouth disease eh? By the way, these blisters had also infected pars of my throat making eating and drinking very very painful. How painful? Imagine those ulcers you ever had in your mouth. Normally they form near your lips right? They are awfully painful isn’t it? Now imagine these ulcers developed at your throat and you’ll have some idea of just how painful it was for me. The pain threshold is almost 100 times greater than a normal sore throat. In fact if I were to find an equivalent of how painful it was to eat and drink, just imagine trying to swallow a box of nails and drink acid. That was how painful it was to me.

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The room I was given had air-conditioning! What a far cry from my own room which had only a pathetic fan. But the bummer is, they didn’t give me the remote to turn the A/C on, and the fan inside the room wasn’t working. So I spent like the entire 5 days of quarantine sleeping without fan or A/C. Shits.

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As for the rest of the apartment, pretty much the same as my old apartment unit. Just that this one has tiled floor and was cleaner.

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The view I had from the living room looking at the uni’s most recognizable icon – the water tower. This also happens to be the same view I look at when ever I talk to you guys on the phone or on-line.

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And to my right, looking at my old hostel.

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Blisters started to form by day 6.

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Here’s a close-up. Gotta love that macro mode babeh.

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And I grew a third nipple at my arm hehahahahaha.

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Love the view though. It’s what I look at everyday whenever I go to class. But when viewed from a different angle, it just doesn’t look the same.

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Sunset is my most favorite part.

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Look at the skies. See how the color changed as night falls.

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Alright, now is the time to make a dedication. First of, I’d thank my family (my parents and sis) for all the concern and support they’ve given me. I knew mom was very worried about me and had sleepless nights. Dad wanted to fly here to check out my condition. Sorry for making you guys worried. Much love to you all.

To my buddies in uni(Jerry, sick0, a_giu), man you have no idea how much you’ve helped me especially with the food part. Without you guys, I think I would have starved to death literally. And thanks for the birthday bash.

Friends who sms-ed (Eric, BB to name a few) and msn-ed (Ah Lek, Joe, JCC), thanks for your concerns.

To my readers, thanks for all the well wishes and comments. Reading those comments is what gave me strength during those tumultuous times.

And last but definitely not the least, to all my friends (real life and online ones), much appreciation for all your concerns, well wishes, sms, and tons of encouragement. Here’s the who’s who: misSing – for all the support and lift-me-ups during those difficult times, I thank you and you’re the best there is; Aunty pEbbZ – thanks for the info on HFMD and keeping me company; yourlady – you’ve showered me with all the attention a big sister would give to his little bro, thank you and I appreciate that; chromium – thanks for chatting with me even though I knew you were bored to tears; Ladycool – thanks for granting me, it kept me occupied hehe; jenjen – I hope you get well soon!

For those who don’t get the gist of this post, please read this first. And this too (prelude).

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Ayam kambing bag (I am coming back)!

I’ve just been released from quarantine after a visit to the university’s clinic. Doc said as long as I keep my distance from other people and stay away from crowded areas, I should be good.

Thanks for all the good wishes and thanks to my family and friends who helped a lot during these tumultuous times.

Will update more (with loads of pics) when time allows me too. Still have 3 days of Final Year Project to attend to, a test next Tuesday and a presentation that needed to be done but didn’t because I was oh I dunno…….. quarantined? Hahahahaha!